How long will I have to wait for a doctor's appointment in Boquete, Panama?

In Boquete, you do not need to wait a long time for a doctor´s appointment.  You would probably be referred to a specialist in a larger private hospital such as Centro Medico Mae Lewis where there are about 40 doctors.  Specialists include: cardiologists, dentists, gastroenterologists, gynecologists, neurologists, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, urologists, surgeons, radiologists, psychiatrists, pathologists, hematologists, internists, orthopedists, plastic...

In Boquete, you do not need to wait a long time for a doctor´s appointment.  You would probably be referred to a specialist in a larger private hospital such as Centro Medico Mae Lewis where there are about 40 doctors.  Specialists include: cardiologists, dentists, gastroenterologists, gynecologists, neurologists, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, urologists, surgeons, radiologists, psychiatrists, pathologists, hematologists, internists, orthopedists, plastic surgeons, geriatricians, family doctors and many other specialists.   Doctors usually attend patients on a first come first serve basis.

If you walk into the clinic here in Boquete, you can have an appointment the same day. If you make an appointment, you will probably be seen in about 48 hours.

 

Compared to the US, getting a doctor’s appointment here in Boquete is more casual. Most of the expats end up utilizing private hospitals here, too. When you go through a private hospital, the response time is always much quicker. The personal service is much better.

 

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If you walk into the clinic here in Boquete, you can have an appointment the same day. If you make an appointment, you will probably be seen in about 48 hours.

 

Compared to the US, getting a doctor’s appointment here in Boquete is more casual. Most of the expats end up utilizing private hospitals here, too. When you go through a private hospital, the response time is always much quicker. The personal service is much better.

 

Everybody knows pretty much everybody here in Boquete because it's such a small community. Once you have established a relationship with your doctor, that doctor will recommend a specialist for you and he also sets the appointment for you. It could be the next day or could be within 48 hours, depending on the severity of the case.  

 

(Hospital Chiriqui, less than an hour a way from Boquete in David, Panama, pictured.)

You will only wait about 30 minutes to see a doctor in Boquete but usually, you have to have an appointment. Expats normally go to the private clinics.

 

If you are coming to Boquete for the first time, it is recommended that you try to find doctors that you will need here. Find a pediatrician for your children. Find a gynecologist, etc. so that you know who to contact whenever you need a doctor. When you have any problem, you can just call them and tell...

You will only wait about 30 minutes to see a doctor in Boquete but usually, you have to have an appointment. Expats normally go to the private clinics.

 

If you are coming to Boquete for the first time, it is recommended that you try to find doctors that you will need here. Find a pediatrician for your children. Find a gynecologist, etc. so that you know who to contact whenever you need a doctor. When you have any problem, you can just call them and tell them that you’d like to set up an appointment on a specific date. They will book that date for you and you can just come and see your doctor.

 

People here in Boquete normally see their doctors by appointment. The doctors in Boquete are very flexible.

 

Most of the doctors here in Boquete and Chiriquí (the province where Boquete is located) in general work for the government in the afternoon or in the morning. If they work in the afternoon at the public hospitals, they work in their private clinics in the morning and vice versa. There are doctors who even do home visits. If you can’t walk or if you are not capable of traveling to the clinic, then they can do a home visit for you, but of course you will pay extra for that service.  

 

(Director of Lucero Homes and Golf on golf course in the bluffs of Boquete, Panama, pictured.)

I have had a long history of chronic bronchitis, most of the time brought on by allergies. Usually in the States I had it twice or more year. I actually arrived in Panama on day one taking my third round of antibiotics for bronchitis. Since our arrival here I have had it twice in three years!

 

A recent Saturday I was threatened by my husband and neighbors that if I did not voluntarily go to the doctor, I would be dragged there! A Saturday morning...

I have had a long history of chronic bronchitis, most of the time brought on by allergies. Usually in the States I had it twice or more year. I actually arrived in Panama on day one taking my third round of antibiotics for bronchitis. Since our arrival here I have had it twice in three years!

 

A recent Saturday I was threatened by my husband and neighbors that if I did not voluntarily go to the doctor, I would be dragged there! A Saturday morning office call was my second time to meet Dr. Chen, a beloved local physician, and a fixture here in Boquete area.

 

I waited about ten minutes to see him, coughing my head off the entire time. He was not in his suit and tie but in comfortable, casual attire. He often has a stern look on his face; stern, not grim. Then all of a sudden his eyes twinkle, then his face it can light up in a mischievous smile. He checked me out. Gave me my prescriptions and I thanked him for being open on Saturday morning as I paid the ten dollars to him. He gave me that Dr. Chen look, and told me this:

 

"There is a doctor on call in this office twenty-four hours day seven days a week. So next time don't wait so long!"

 

He, unlike many American doctors, doesn't play golf.  He works for many hours in the government-run clinic for the poor every day. He lives in an unostentatious home that is also his small office. Austere, or scant, would be the terms that come to mind. It has been upgraded recently a little bit. Dr. Chen has none of the bells and whistles that so many American general practitioners have, yet, he is a dedicated, medical professional who gives one hundred percent to his patients.

 

He speaks English and is rather a favorite of men; his no-nonsense manner I think makes them feel quite at home with him. I salute the Venerable Doctor Chen, one of Boquete's finest!

A person who goes to a public medical center in Boquete must go early in the morning to get in line to get an appointment with a general doctor because there is a limit to the number of patients these centers can accommodate per day. The local social insurance system in Panama also has a call center where you can call to set up an appointment with a public general doctor.

 

On the other hand, it is easy to get an appointment with a private doctor in Boquete....

A person who goes to a public medical center in Boquete must go early in the morning to get in line to get an appointment with a general doctor because there is a limit to the number of patients these centers can accommodate per day. The local social insurance system in Panama also has a call center where you can call to set up an appointment with a public general doctor.

 

On the other hand, it is easy to get an appointment with a private doctor in Boquete. Unless there is a patient before you, private doctors will see you immediately once you arrive in the doctor's clinic.

 

((Viewof Alto Boquete Condominums with views of the caldera and valley, Boquete, Panama, pictured.)